With three avalanche victims completely buried and four others
injured and waiting to be rescued, the mock avalanche exercise
was under way when 911 dispatched the Search & Rescue at 9
a.m. on February 6th.

The Missoula County Sheriff's Search & Rescue (S&R),
USFS, a Reserve Deputy, Fish & Game, Highway Patrol officer
Shane Grimes, the Seeley Lake Driftriders snowmobile club, and
a snowmobile club out of Lolo participated in the avalanche training
staged at the Heliport on Deer Creek.

Mother Nature supplied snowfall which changed to blizzard conditions
as the wind picked up and then of course part of the day was filled
with blue sky and sunshine.

"We couldn't have picked a better day for a drill,"
Missoula County Sheriffs Deputy Bob Parcell said. "We had
every kind of condition imaginable. It was great."

Approximately 40 people worked together to train in the mock
avalanche rescue, which included training on transporting victims
on sleds and trailers, probing for buried victims, the use of
transceivers (also called beepers), and riding snowmobiles on
a course designed to improve snowmobilers skills.

After the page from the 911 center, the S&R bus, rescuers
and their snowmobiles arrived at the staging area. They had to
hook up sleds and gather equipment before they took off on the
8.3 mile jaunt up the Lake Elsina Trail to rescue the victims.

After the rescuers arrived and began working on the victims,
a real call came in. A 13-year-old male had hit a tree on Arcibald
Loop, and within 15 minutes Search 7 Rescue members Dave Ball
and Kurt Friede were on the scene, according to Missoula County
Sheriffs Deputy Bob Parcell.

The boy was unconscious right after the collision, but did
regain consciousness before he was brought out by S&R members
and transported to Saint Patrick Hospital. When the real call
was over, the S&R members returned to the drill.

By this time the S&R members remaining at the drill had
transported three of the victims down to the bus where they would
receive medical treatment and transport.

Two of the buried victims, each made out of a pair of coveralls
stuffed with newspaper, were buried about 4 feet under. One dummy
was for the probing exercise, and the other would be used for
the transceiver drill.

S&R member Jim Weatherly provided the instruction in the
technique of conduction an avalanche probe line to search for
buried victims. After the instruction, the S&R members moved
to the area where they were told the victim (dummy) might be buried.
They found the victim and dug him out.

The other victim has a transceiver. The S&R members learned
to use the transceiver signals to located the victim. Once the
victim was located, they probed for a definite location and began
digging.

The third buried victim, Reserve Deputy Peggy Westphal, was
buried 2 feet under the snow, and she was supplied with an air
tube. This victim was a drill for the avalanche dogs out of Missoula.

"The dogs went right to her," Deputy Parcell said.
"It was impressive. Once the victim was located, we ran up
the hill and started digging."

Game Warden Bill Koppen showed the group how to pack a survival
kit which included everything from a beeper, probe and a shovel
to food and fire-starting material.

Curt Friede who is also a S&R member, set up a 1.3 mile
course so those members who are not experienced riders could get
some hands-on experience. The course was designed to give the
snowmobilers different snow conditions as well as practice at
side-hilling, going up and down mountains and of course it was
complete with bumps, Friede said.

"The course let them try their skills and help them understand
how the snowmobile works," Friede said.

"The one thing that I learned out of this whole thing
is you have to have the right equipment, but if you don't know
how to use the equipment it won't do you a bit of good,"
he said. "The biggest thing is using the equipment over and
over and over. If you get around somebody who can help you take
advantage of it."

There are classes offered to teach snowmobilers how to use
the equipment. If you are interested you may contact the University
of Montana, the Forest Service or any of the ski resorts, according
to Friede.

Friede owns Kurt's Polaris, and according to Parcell, Friede
also provides the S&R crews with 4-wheelers, motorcycles or
snow machines when they are needed. He also has complete avalanche
kits available at the store. This kit includes a beeper, probe
and shovel.

The Missoula S&R started in 1959. The initial group was
in Missoula, and now there are three squads. One is in the Seeley-Swan
area. All three squads participated in this drill.

"I thought the whole day went really well," said
USFS Federal Marshall Ron Ogden. "We had a real good turnout,
and it was a great training opportunity. And the dogs were unbelievable."

"It was a great exercise, and then the real call in the
middle of the mock really gave us a workout," Deputy Parcell
said. "Everything went very well. I think we all learned
a lot. The S&R would really like to thank everyone involved
especially the Driftriders and our victims: Al Woodward, Peggy
Westphal, Chris Mood, Leland Anders and Lindsay Newell."